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Teen shares body-positive message: 'Just because I'm not "thick" it doesn't mean that I'm not able to love my body'

Teen opens up about her journey to self-love. (Photo: Instagram/ Julian Aolae)

In a world where Kim Kardashian is famous for her voluptuous figure and her sister Kylie Jenner is praised for enhancing her body to look the same, a young woman who doesn’t fit into this type of beauty standard can have a hard time loving herself.

Fifteen-year-old Juliana Delacruz was being shamed online for her body not looking “thick.” She took to Instagram to share how, despite not being able to fit into these beauty standards, she still loves her body. Her post received nearly 50,000 likes and 2,000 comments.

In her body-positive post, the teen writes: “A lot of people are mean about these topics. I’m making this post because I always get messages like ‘you’d be hotter if you were thicker’ and things like that but it’s something I can’t control you know? I’m still trying to learn how to love my body, I know I’m not perfect but yeah.”

Delacruz tells Yahoo LifeStyle, “I overcome this negativity by fighting with positivity. The only reason why I post about it because I want other girls who experience this to know that they’re not alone.”

And she is doing just that, other young women have been commenting on her post, thanking her for sharing. One commenter wrote: “You deserve an award, in a society which profits from your own self-doubt, loving yourself is a rebellious act. So many years of education yet no one taught us how to love ourselves.” Another commenter added, “Thank you for this! I definitely know how you feel.”

Delacruz says her mother is her biggest support system and has helped her in her journey toward self-love.

“Every time I feel ugly or insecure my mom is there to make me feel better about myself,” she says. “And my best friends.”

The Texas teen has dreams of becoming an oncologist to help children who have cancer.

As for her advice to other people struggling to love themselves? “Not everyone is going to think we’re beautiful. Everybody has their own opinion and we should try our hardest not to let the opinions bring us down. I know that we all have insecurities and it’s something we can’t change but we’re all so different and unique that we should express ourselves the right way and not let what other people say or think define you.”